Heat oven to 375. Unroll both cans of the dough. Separate into 16 triangles. Cut each triangle lengthwise into 3 narrow triangles.

Place sausage on shortest side of each triangle. Roll up each, starting at shortest side of triangle and rolling to opposite point; place point side down on 2 ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown, switching position of cookie sheets halfway through baking. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm (with a side of honey dijon mustard).

My advice: Keep a close eye. Cooking times can easily vary depending on oven and type of cookie sheet. I suggest not making at 5 a.m. in the morning as I did. I’m not as attentive at that hour while waiting for coffee to brew! LOL

Gary Emerling’s French Quarter Cheese Spread

Sterling Emerling, Gary’s better half, made this for the newsroom. The recipe is from Taste of Home.

Ingredients

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon grated onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard

1 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted

Assorted crackers

Combine the cream cheese, onion and garlic. Put on a serving plate and shape into a 6-in. disk. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Cook and stir over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in pecans. Let it cool a little and then spoon the cheese mixture over it. Serve with crackers.

Put almonds into a bowl and mix with the bacon grease. Stire and spread on to a cookie sheet.

Bake for 5 to 7 minutes.

Mix sugar, salt and pepper together in a separate bowl.

Put almonds in a brown paper bag. Shake, shake, shake. Of course, make sure you have the top closed.

Put almonds in a mixing bowl. Crumble your bacon into bits and add to nuts. Add the mixture of sugar, salt and pepper.

Serve.

Mike McMearty’s Cream Cheese Dip

One of those bricks of cream cheese

8 oz. bag of cheese of choice (I like spicy mix.)

Small can of green chilis chopped

8 oz. bottle of salsa

Mix chilis and cream cheese. (Let cream cheese get to room temp for better mixing.) Then mix 4 oz. of cheese of choice and 8 oz. of salsa with chilis and cream cheese. Add the extra 4 oz. cheese on top and spread evenly.

Molly Welton’s Pizza Dip

1 jar of pizza sauce (14oz)

3/4 cup chopped turkey pepperoni

4 chopped green onions

1 can black olives (2 1/4 oz)

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 cup mozarrella cheese (about 4oz)

3 oz. of cream cheese (softened)

Combine everything except the cheeses in a small slow cooker. Cover and set on high 1 to 1 1/2 hours or low for 2 hours or until hot.

Stir in mozarrella and cream cheese until well blended. Serve with bread sticks.

Flavor tip: add a little more or less of what you like on your pizza.

Recipe is modified from a traditional crockpot recipe.

Reada Kessler’s Yummy Spinach Dip

In full disclosure, Reada Kessler snagged this recipe from the back of the Knorr Vegetable Soup package and then modified it.

1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped (This is optional. It tastes great without them.)

3 green onions, chopped (optional)

Combine all ingredients and chill about 2 hours or overnight. Serve in a hollowed out bread bowl with bread and crackers for dipping.

Mike McMearty’s Super Spicy Cheese Dip

8 oz. cream cheese (one brick)

8 oz. of salsa (I prefer hot)

1 small can of chopped green chilis

8 oz. grated cheese (I use a spicy Mex-mix) plus a bit more for topping

Let the cream cheese sit out to get to room temperature. In a large bowl mix the chilis (drained juice from can) and cream cheese. Then add Salsa and stir. Then add grated cheese and stir. Spread in dish for serving with rubber spatula. Top dip with additional grated cheese (cover entire surface area) and let set in fridge for an hour or just dig in if you can’t wait.

Mike Jakaitis’ Guacamole

(This one won WTOP’s Great Guacamole Challenge in 2008) (Serves 4 to 6)

3 avocados

fresh jalapeno (chopped to taste)

serano jalapeno (chopped to taste)

1 small tomato seeded and diced

1 shallot diced

� cup diced red pepper

� small sweet onion diced

� small red onion diced

1 tbsp. chopped green onion

� tsp. sea salt

� tsp. pepper or to taste

� tsp. cumin

� tsp. cayenne pepper or to taste

� tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)

� tsp garlic powder

2 cloves of fresh minced garlic

1 tbsp. fresh finely chopped cilantro

splash of extra virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, place the scooped avocado, squeeze a little lime juice (1 tsp. to start.)

Add seasonings and start mashing. Use a potato masher or the end of a meat tenderizer to do the job, or just improvise.

Fold in the onions, shallots, tomato, and jalapeno peppers.

Splash in a little more lime juice (optional).

Add a splash of the olive oil.

For best results, allow the dip to sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.

1/2 c. chopped onion (You can increase this if you are an onion fan. I’m not,)

1 6 oz. canned tomato paste

1 8 oz. canned tomato sauce

2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes, do not drain

1 10 oz. can of Ro Tel mild diced tomatoes and green chilis, do not drain

1 40.5 oz. can of light red kidney beans, drained

1 package of McCormick’s chili seasoning for slow cookers

This is a modified version of the recipe on the back of the McCormick’s seasoning package.

Brown the turkey and drain off the fat. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Gently fold everything together so the seasoning covers everything.

Line your slow cooker with those slow cooker liners, if you want your clean-up to be easy. Transfer everything to the slow cooker. Set slow cooker to low for 8 hours (4 on high, if you are impatient.) Don’t lift the lid while it’s cooking.

When it’s done, top with shredded cheese, sour cream and chives and enjoy. If you are watching your calories, this is a great time to make the cheese and sour cream either reduced fat or fat-free.

Mike McMearty’s Weenies and Beanies (Serves 8-10)

Handful of brown sugar (about half cup)

3/4 cup of Heinz Ketchup

2 large Yellow Onions, peeled and diced

1 pound of Oscar Meyer bacon (DO NOT SUBSTITUTE)

2 large cans of Campbell’s baked beans (approx. 20 oz.)

1 package of Hebrew National Kosher beef hot dogs (I sometimes use half of a second package)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook the Oscar Meyer bacon slow over low heat. You want it crisp – well-done, but not burned. Place cooked bacon on paper towel.

Cooked diced onions in bacon grease until brown.

While cooking the bacon and onion, empty both cans of beans into large casserole dish (you want something rectangular, about 18 inches by 12 inches).

This is also a good opportunity to cut the hot dogs. The dogs are to be cut in diagonal criss-cross fashion. The cute should be about halfway through the dogs, do not cut all the way through the dogs.

Line up five dogs at a time on a cutting board and make a long incision, diagonally across all the dogs at the same time, then switch directions. End result – you should have a criss-cross pattern on the top of the dogs.

Add the ketchup and brown sugar to beans and stir.

Crush bacon into small bits. You want little bite-size pieces that will fit on a spoon and that you’ll be able to taste. This is best done by hand.

Drain grease from onions.

Add bacon bits and onions to beans and stir thoroughly until well-mixed.

Place the serrated hot dogs on top of the beans, submerging them 1/4 inch into the mixture. Cover entire casserole dish with tin foil and slide into the middle rack of the oven.

Peel back tin foil and check at 30 minutes. Beans should be boiling around the edges; dogs should be beginning to curl up. At this point, remove foil and turn on broiler. Broil entire casserole for about five minutes until dogs start to get golden brown singe. Check frequently during broiling!

On a dinner plate, squirt a large puddle of ketchup (about the size of a half- dollar) and mustard (I recommend Grey Poupon or English’s Hot Mustard). The proper eating technique involves cutting off a bite-size piece of hot dog and dipping one end in the ketchup and the other in the mustard.

Careful, though: weens and beanies are sooo good. You’re likely to eat too much at one sitting.

Mike Jakaitis’ Pork BBQ recipe

Ingredients:

6-8 pound pork shoulder or butt

olive oil

Your favorite BBQ sauce

Maple Syrup

A cup of your favorite BBQ rub, if you are without a rub:

2 tbsp garlic salt

2 tbsp black pepper

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp rosemary

2 tbsp paprika

1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Coat pork with olive oil. Massage your dry rub all over pork. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours.

After refrigeration, bring pork back to room temperature. Massage brown sugar all over pork. Add drizzle of maple syrup to pork. Place pork in pan, skin side up.

Cooking Time:

1. Low and Very Slow: Cook at 225 degrees, plan on 1.5-2 hours per pound. (Six pound roast will take about 12 hours.)

2. Low and Kind Of Slow: Cover pork with aluminum foil and cook at 300 degrees for 4 hours. Remove foil and cook for another 2-2.5 hours. Remove pork from the oven, cover with foil and let rest for about 10 minutes. Take two forks and start shredding the meat. The meat should easily pull apart. Add your favorite sauce and serve on rolls, or eat meat itself.

Hillary Howard’s Mexican Salad

Your favorite bagged salad

Your favorite tortilla chips

Your favorite salsa

Sliced avocado

Chopped onion

Black olives

Chick peas

Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Baby tomatoes

Limes

This couldn’t be easier. Empty lettuce in bowl. Add all ingredients. Crunch up tortilla chips and toss them in. Finish with lime juice and mix. Voila!

Brennan Haselton’s Guacamole

(Serves 2 to 3)

2 ripe avocados

3 finely diced jalapenos (heaping 1/2 cup — to taste)

1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro (you won’t need less)

1/4 cup chopped white onion or red onion

1 small chopped tomato (leave out the pulpy guts). This is partly for taste, partly to make the guacamole more pleasing to the eye.

1/2 freshly squeezed lemon

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Mash up avacodos but not too finely. Add to rest of ingredients and mix.

For those with more sensitive palates, start with 2 jalapenos and add more to taste.